It Started With One Distraction
by cloudydayswithblindingsun
Summary: One message later and Quinn knew what was on the other side.
1. Chapter 1

You know that if you don't hurry you'll miss the wedding. Will it matter if you're there? Does she know that this isn't only destroying you but it will also destroy her future? You get her text asking where you are. Where are you? Well you're on a backroad going far too fast and you get this strange feeling that you aren't going to make it. This feeling makes you press harder on the gas, but doesn't alleviate the nagging in your head. Perhaps something is telling you that you need to slow down. You don't care though, you ignore it and continue at the reckless speed that you've been doing. You reach for your phone and it almost burns to the touch, but you ignore whatever is trying to get you to focus on the road rather than the technology that was buzzing in your passengers' seat. You press down on each key and it eventually spells out "ON MY WAY". Your finger is hovering over send and you take this chance to glance up at the road, just catching the sight of the red stop sign blaring at you, and in your peripheral you see the truck that is blaring its horn at you. You press the button in the split second before two vehicles meld into one and your world turns upside down literally.

When you open your eyes you feel extreme pain in your left side. You then feel something pouring down your face. It's red and there's a familiar taste in your mouth, it tastes like when you lost all of your baby teeth. You immediately recognize this as a bad thing but you're not sure why. There's a man yelling at someone outside of your car. Your car which you know has flipped over. Another voice is screaming, a woman, she's screaming at him about what she should do, his response is to check on the other car. That must be you. You hear the woman approaching and asking if anyone is in there. Where is there? Oh, there is where you are. You try to speak but you're realizing that it's starting to get harder to breathe and you're not sure when that happened. You look down which is now where your roof currently is and you see your phone. You see it blinking with what looks like a missed call from Berry, and Santana has a 3 by her name. You wonder if Santana is worried, she never calls this much. It doesn't matter now though because a woman reaches in and you see her face. She has brown hair and it reminds you of a duller version of Rachel's. The older woman has tears on her face and she isn't making sense, since your world is spinning now. She just squeezes your hand harder than anyone ever has. You worry that this might be the end. You're not afraid, you never have been. You are however, afraid for your friends and mom. Frannie too. You never got to tell them home much they mean to you. This may be the end and when other people in what look like firemen's attire come up to your car, tearing away the woman's hand and severing your only lifeline to this world, you instantly panic. But then they're cutting you out of your car and you're not sure who is touching what and when you got strapped onto a backboard. You do remember when you stop breathing on your own though. And you remember the last beat of your heart. You remember it because you're staring up at the lights in the ambulance and you wonder why you ever wore sunglasses because this light is warm and comforting and you want to be closer to it. And when your heart stops beating on its own, you finally are.


	2. Chapter 2

"Relax Berry, I'm sure she's on her way. Quinn is almost as dramatic as you." Santana retorted to Rachel, who was currently pacing the floor in anticipation of Quinn's arrival. The truth was that Berry really wasn't helping Santana's nerves. After Quinn hadn't answered her two previous calls she was afraid she'd actually join Rachel in her actions.

Ever the observant one, Brittany intervened. "Will you stop walking like that, Rachel? It's not good for San's nerves."

Rachel stopped pacing and finally drew her attention back to the present world where most of the other girls were proceeding. "I apologize, Brittany, it's just that Quinn told me that she was on her way, and it's been fifteen minutes since then."

"Give me that." Santana snatched the phone from Rachel's grip.

"Hey! That's my cell phone Santana, you can't just-"

"Will you two please shut the hell up?!" Mercedes piped in. "You two have done nothing but argue. I know it's kind of your thing but if you don't stop my head is gonna explode."

"Seriously guys, you're fighting more than an old married couple," Tina stated.

"Fuck off Tina, like my ass would ever marry Berry." Santana winked at Brittany.

"While you couldn't have said it in a more crude way, I agree wholly with Santana, Tina. I could never marry her, the only person I want is-"

"FINN! What are you doing? It's bad luck to see the bride you, idiot!" Mercedes yelled at the taller boy.

Finn rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorry, but Rach everyone is arguing out there and our slot is almost gone. I know you wanna wait for Quinn but I don't think we have that kind of time." Rachel walked up to Finn and took his hands. Although they were larger than hers and sometimes felt like they were squishing hers, she found some comfort in his grip. "Please Finn, just a few more minutes. If she's not here by then we can continue without her."

Rachel stared at Finn with her big eyes shining, he could never say no to the girl so he sighed. "Fine, I'll try to stall them but you owe me." He finished with a smirk.

"Of course." Rachel smiled back and pecked his cheek.

Finn turned and left the room, stomping away in a nervous fashion. "Will you all please give me a moment?" Rachel asked the room the girls were in. "I just need to collect my thoughts."

There were collective grumbles, but the girls filed out. Just as the door closed Rachel let out a breath of air. She'd been holding it for some time, all of her nerves were in there and she wasn't sure anymore of this. Not without Quinn, and she wasn't sure why it mattered if the other girl was there or not.

"Still not sure of it, huh?" Santana spoke casually causing Rachel to jump.

"What is wrong with you?! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Rachel yelped out.

"For the love of God, Berry, relax!" Santana walked closer and plopped down on the unoccupied couch. "So for some reason I'm feeling oddly comforting. You have the next minute to tell me what's wrong. I won't make any remarks no matter what stupid shit you say. Go."

"Really Santana? 'Stupid shit'? That's extremely uncalled for-"

"Clocks ticking Berry." Santana remarked while examining her nails.

Rachel ground her teeth, something she personally hated doing, and hurriedly sat down next to Santana. "I'm just nervous that this is all too fast. And why has Quinn agreed to come? She was so against it before but now? Now she's almost excited for it. Maybe she was right. Maybe I am ruining my life and with that thought she's finally found eternal happiness." Before Rachel could continue she was interrupted by Santana cackling. "What's so funny? I thought you said that you wouldn't make any rude remarks to what I had to say?"

Santana wiped a tear away from her eye and straightened her back. "First of all, I said you had one minute. That was longer than a minute."

"There's no way that you could possibly know that-"

"Secondly," Santana continued, "I don't think you really even understood what Quinn was trying to tell you when she tried to convince you about not going through with this dumbass wedding. I-" Santana cut herself off, staring off to Rachel's side with wide eyes, her mouth still slightly open where it was going to form her next words.

"Santana?" Rachel asked worriedly. She waved her hand in front of the other girls' face but, the girl remained stocked still, whispering something in Spanish.

"El ˋAngel de le muerte." Santana blinked like she had had the wind knocked out of her, and stared into Rachel's confused eyes.

"Santana, what are you talking about?" Rachel said, placing her hand gently onto the Latina's arm.

"I saw her." She stated, still clearly in shock.

"Saw whom?" Rachel was about to go and get the others when Santana finally spoke.

"The angel of death."


	3. Chapter 3

**Note: I haven't been writing lately. My grandma passed away and it's been the hardest thing that I've ever had to handle. I'll write more often, college has been busy though so we'll see how often.**

It's a funny thing when you see a bright light. You've spent all of your life jumping through hoops and just trying to be the best at everything that people forced onto you. Whether that be academics or cheerleading. You would've strived to be the best in Glee but Rachel had stolen the show in all things vocal, and even if she hadn't, Mercedes had a pair of lungs on her that could blow you out of the water. Hell, off of this earth. This earth. Is that where you still were? Weird. But back to the light. It was warm, really warm. You felt the most ease that you ever had before. It was welcoming and you thought you saw someone reaching out to you but you couldn't have been sure. So where was that light now? It wasn't here anymore.

"One, two, three!" The paramedic counted as he and his partner transferred Quinn to the hospital trauma bed.

The nurses immediately started to do CPR on Quinn and it was clear from the look of shock on the senior medic that he was surprised she had come back at all. Before he could dwell on this, though, he looked over to see the charge nurse staring at him from behind her podium, waiting for notes.

"Right, um, one Caucasian female approximately 18. Upon arrival, she was trapped in her car, after being hit by a truck that struck her side, the left drivers' side. She was removed from the car via first responders. When she was in the back we controlled major bleeding and started giving fluids. Her B/P was 62/39 and decreasing. We treated for shock right away. Once we started on our way here she coded. We got her back with stacked shocks but lost her again before we could get here-"

"I've got a pulse!" The nurse screamed at them, right as the doctor came in.

"What do we have?" He asked, heading over to the nurse, listening to her read off the report. The paramedic knew that he had to leave soon but he couldn't help hanging back. This girl looked familiar, he just couldn't put it together.

"Go call surgery, tell them to get prepped. Move her now, we need to check for internal bleeding." He said pulling up her shirt and seeing the discoloration that wasn't there moments before. "Let's go people!" He yelled. "She's got internal abdominal bleeding and god knows how many other problems inside of her." The doctor rushed off, presumably towards surgery. The nurses quickly began moving the bed off to the direction of the surgery room.

The medic turned around because he could've swore that he saw a flash of blonde hair to his right, but when he looked for the person they weren't there.

"Hey Doug, you alright?" Caren, his partner of over 20 years asked gently.

"Yeah, I just…that girl looked familiar," He said, half shrugging, attempting to get the cold feeling out of his body as he began walking.

"I know, look let's go get some burgers and have a chat. Maybe I'll even show you the pictures of my grandbabies." She nudged him gently.

He couldn't help but smile, she had the most beautiful children and no doubt her grandbabies were even cuter. He knew that she and her wife were excellent grandmothers, he hoped things would progress more with his dating life soon. He'd been on the best first date of his life with a woman named Judy. Maybe he should call her and check on her today, he wouldn't mind seeing her beautiful face after the day he's had.

Judy was terrified for her daughter, to say the least. She had seen the look in her Quinnie's eyes before she had rushed off to Rachel Berry's wedding. Judy knew all about Rachel Berry, and from what she had heard, she knew that this girl was very kind. Quinn had always spoken of her, and at first, it had been negative and crude things but Judy thinks that this was, in part, due to the fact that Russel had been around in those days. But once Russel had left, Quinn had a much more positive outlook towards the girl. Judy knew that look, it was love. And she knew that it was killing Quinn to go and see the person she was in love with getting married. Sure, Judy had been raised heavily under the words from the church but she knew that love was blind to things like gender, and many other things.

So now Judy was sitting at the kitchen island and staring at her phone in hand. It had just started to ring and with a glance at the ID, she knew that Douglas was calling her. She couldn't hide the smile that escaped when his name appeared. She had thought he was quite the gentlemen and would be lying if she said she hadn't been awaiting a call from him.

Clearing her throat, Judy answered. "Hello?" She said delicately.

"Hi. Um, I mean..hi there?" Douglas was struggling and Judy could hear a sigh against the receiver. She giggled, waiting for him to continue. "Hey there, Judy."

Chuckling, Judy replied. "Doug, it's nice to hear from you."

Letting out an audible breath and relaxing Doug began to explain his reason for calling. "I had a great time the other night. I was afraid to call too soon but I can't seem to stop thinking about you. And if you're free later tonight I'd love to take you out. Unless you're busy, then maybe another time?"

Judy chewed her lip and hummed before answering. "I don't have anything planned, I'd be more than happy to go out with you again." Judy smiled warmly into the receiver. "Where would you like me to meet you?"

"Oh, I was thinking that I could pick you up this time?" Doug didn't want to trouble her with driving, he really didn't want anyone he knew to drive after the call that he'd just had.

"Well…" Judy had to think about this for a moment. She wasn't sure if Quinn would be okay with meeting him. "I suppose you could. I don't want to put you out, though."

"Of course not. I mean that you're not putting me out, that is!" He quickly corrected and then sighed once more. "I'm sorry, I'm not very good at these sorts of things. I also seem to be very nervous around you." He muttered.

Judy was grinning like a fool. "I'll see you around 8 tonight, Doug?"

Doug smiled loudly, "Yeah 8 is perfect. Thank you, Judy. Have a great rest of your day."

"You too. Goodbye." Smiling at his return of words she ended the call. Today was going better than she expected, she just hopes that Quinn is also having some luck.

"Has anyone managed to get ahold of family members?" The surgeon asks softly, glancing up momentarily from where he was working. This patient had severe abdominal injuries and head trauma as well. He had already drilled in hopes of relieving pressure from her skull that was currently on her brain. He couldn't help but flinch at how he reacted when the attending tried to tell him the girl's name. He had raised three daughters and although they were all grown up and moved away with life, he couldn't bear to imagine having to deal with this.

"There were no known contacts listed, but there have been police dispatched to her residence in hopes of getting ahold of someone there." The nurse responded.

"Good, thank you. As soon as any family arrives contact me immediately. I need to discuss what the parents would like to have done." He sighed, her heart rate was picking up, if they didn't get ahold of someone soon then he'd have to make the decision, and he knew that deep down it wasn't really his to make.

As Judy set her phone down on the counter and opened the fridge to see what she would be making for dinner, the doorbell rang. Puzzled, she shut the fridge and made her way towards the large wooden doors. A sinking feeling landed in her stomach, she wasn't expecting company today at least not until 8 tonight. Suddenly the cathedral ceilings in her home that lured her to buy it so long ago and the spacious walkway between rooms just felt suffocating. She felt cold and shaky and for some reason, she knew that if she answered that door that her life would be changed forever.

She reached out a hand slowly and with a slight turn, she hoisted the door open. Her eyes raked across the two men in police uniforms and she barely managed to breathe out a shattered 'what'.

"Ma'am, are you Judy Fabray?" The taller of the two men asked. He was a fit young man and with the shimmer in his eyes, she was guessing that whatever news he was going to give her wasn't something pleasant.

"I am, yes." She supplied.

Clearing his throat he reached out and gently placed his hand on her arm. "Your daughter, Lucy, was in a severe accident today and I need you to come with us to the hospital, please." His voice was hoarse, and she couldn't get the strange feeling out of her mind that they weren't entirely alone.

"Is she dead? My daughter." Judy curled her fingers into her palms and the dampness that answered was enough of a sign to tell her that she'd broken the skin. But she couldn't feel it. Her world was numb.

"No ma'am. But the doctors want you to be there as soon as possible." He gestured towards the police car that was parked on the street. "Can I drive you?"

She almost laughed at his question. She didn't have a choice. Instead of responding Judy took delicate steps towards the police car and was surprised when she was seated in front. The younger officer crawled into the back and sirens filled her ears. It was one of the fastest car rides of her life but she didn't remember a moment of it. She couldn't get the feeling of the hand that had been grasping onto hers for dear life while they were walking to the police car, but when she had looked for the owner of the hand, no one had been there.


	4. Chapter 4

Quinn could feel certain things as she stood in the middle of the emergency room. For one, she felt ignored. She had actually shouted in a nurse's face and the only response was the woman walking away. As if she hadn't even seen her?! She was going to get to the bottom of this, so with that in mind, she walked towards the charge nurse that she had seen speaking on a phone earlier.

"Hey!" Quinn shouted, earning a glance from the woman who seemed to be looking towards her. "I don't know how a hospital is supposed to be run but I know that your team needs to learn some manners or-" The woman cut her off before she could continue.

"Thanks, Jerry, I really needed to get this chart finished, she smiled…at her…right?

Quinn felt a small breeze and looked down to see an arm poking through her chest. "What the _fuck_?!" She screamed, falling to the ground and back pedaling towards the nearest wall. Quinn began to look everywhere, noticing how no one had appeared to see the interaction that had just taken place.

Gasping lightly she stood up and focused back in on the conversation.

"He's not sure if she's going to be okay. I mean you saw the girl, she was barely holding in there and to go through that kind of surgery? Jeez, poor thing." Jerry wiped at his brow.

The older charge nurse smile sadly to him. "Sometimes these kinds of things are out of our hands. They said she was hanging in there pretty tight when they were bringing her in. She must have something she needs to finish." The older woman patted his shoulder. "You see a lot of things here," She continued as she walked with him towards the nurse station. "Some things don't make sense and other you just don't want to." She stopped at the computer, letting the young nurse take his seat. "But sometimes…sometimes you see something that shouldn't happen. Something that defies all of the odds. And you think to yourself 'this is why I'm here. For these small victories.'. Trust me Jerry. You'll learn a lot here, but it's not for the faint of heart." She gave the young nurse a smile and another pat before returning to answer a phone call on another patient.

Quinn walked to where Jerry was sitting and stared at him. "Sir?" She questioned, fear dominant in her eyes. He didn't flinch or even seem to notice her. She took this moment to reach towards him, and she watched as her hand passed through his body.

Feeling light headed Quinn leaned against the desk where the computer was, balancing herself, hoping she wouldn't pass out. She took in deep breaths and turned towards the computer, catching sight of her name. The chart echoed back her terrors. Deep lacerations. Car accident. Unstable en route to hospital. Chest palpitation confirmed deep trauma.

All Quinn could do is stare on as she read the report, hoping soon this nightmare would end. She would wake up soon. She had to, she had somewhere to be.

"Hello darling." She heard from behind her where she caught sight of a man in a dark suit, hair up in a sloppy man bun. God, she hated man buns.

She stepped towards him, her heels lightly clicking against the floor. She hadn't noticed until now that she was still wearing her bridesmaid dress. When she looked up he was smiling, something about his smile seemed fake. Looking into his eyes she felt a chill prickle up her spine. He grinned deeper at this.

She cautiously kept her distance, standing in the middle of the hospital corridor seemed awkward. "You can see me?" She asked skeptically.

Chuckling, the man slipped from the wall and walked towards her, she took a step back causing him to laugh again. "Don't worry," he held his hands up in a defensive way, "I'll keep my distance."

She raised her head in suspicion. He continued to grin at her. "What the hell do you want?" She was done playing this game with him.

"Ah ah ah, Lucy, such crass language." He corrected her.

"How do you know my name?" She took another step away from the man. He was grinning at her again, knowingly.

"I actually know quite a bit about you." He offered, walking towards her. His heels made a decisive click when he walked. "Little Lucy, small and cute. Plump too." He purred as he got closer, walking a circle around her. "But that changed. You changed. And if I recall correctly," He raised a finger to mark his point, "you asked God to help you. To make it change. Make it better." He brushed her hair away from her ear. "But what happened? You had to do all of that work alone. And did it make it better?" He clicked his tongue. "No. Things got worse, you became angrier with everyone, and poor little Lucy started to disappear. Then you fell pregnant." Quinn let out a small gasp. "My, what a beautiful child."

Quinn tried to move, to run. Anything. She was rooted to the ground though, her feet unwilling to carry her from him. "Were you rewarded for this miracle?" The man continued. "Once again, no. You were thrown from you house. You fought tooth and nail to survive and once everything seemed to be going fine, that miracle was taken from you right away." He stepped away and looked on at her with sympathy. "But now! Finally! Everything is getting better, you're going to go to an amazing college. You roll with the punches my darling, Quinn. But the woman you care so fondly for is going to marry a man who you and I both know is not good enough for her." He stepped further away and laughed as if he was told a hilarious joke. "Look at where you are, Quinn! You shouldn't be here!" His face turned serious then. "You have fought so hard and now you're on a table in a room where people are trying to put you back together." Quinn tensed her jaw muscles.

The man then held out and open hand for her. "Take my hand, Quinn. We can fix this. Everything that has gone wrong, you can fix it. You can come with me and show them why they should have helped you all of these times."

Quinn felt a quiver throughout her body. The man's smile slipped for a fraction of a moment. He wasn't who he said. His suit and appearance was deceiving enough to her. "I want to stay here. I want to see if they can help me," Quinn answered.

She noticed his jaw tense. "Quinn, you're already dead." He supplied, "There's no point in waiting here." He then began to look around in panic. "Quinn, take my hand."

Narrowing her eyes, she turned her head slightly. "No," She said, shaking her head. "I'm not ready." She supplied.

"You stupid little bitch!" He snapped, anger fully showing in his eyes. "You're going to die and rot in hell when you're done! There's no point in waiting!" He continued.

When no immediate response came he chuckled bitterly. "Fine. I'll see you there, Quinnie." He winked and dark smoke surrounded his feet. He vanished downwards with the smoke.

"What the hell was that?" Quinn breathed out, shaking still from the encounter.

"A demon." Came a soft voice behind her. Quinn turned sharply and was met with a gray-haired elderly woman, an IV bag and stand being used as her walker.

Quinn slowly looked around, making sure the man really was gone. Looking back the elderly woman was still looking at her, smiling. "You can see me?" Quinn asked her, pointing at herself. The woman smiled at her and nodded, her eyes crinkling making Quinn feel safer, more at ease. "How?" Quinn wondered.

The woman glanced around the hall, a nurse had been watching a moment ago but looked away when he was caught. "The older woman spoke lower. "I'm Grace." She told Quinn. "End stage cancer. I've seen a lot of things around this hospital sweetheart." She glanced over her shoulder, "I shouldn't even be here." The nurse was approaching them now. Grace looked to Quinn. "I'm on the third floor, room 318. Come see me soon sweetie." With that she turned to the nurse. "Yes, Jerry, I know I'm not supposed to be here. I got lost looking for the door outside."

Jerry smiled at her, "Well let me get someone to show you and then they'll help you back up to your room."

"Nonsense. I'm dying anyways, I'm not losing my independence." She swatted at his hand. "I can do it on my own, you just take care of these people, there's nothing you can do for me honey."

The charge nurse from earlier came around the corner then, clearly noticing the older woman. Without turning around Grace spoke up. "I know Kim, I'm going. And no, I don't need help. You get back to work. I raised you better than that, I swear." Grace supplied.

Quinn looked to the charge nurse and saw tears rise in her eyes. Kim watched her mom disappear behind closing doors.

Quinn tried to sneak around the hospital. Why? She was terrified she would see the man from before. Afraid that he would come back for her, wherever she was. The elevator was almost closed but Quinn slipped through, not questioning the fact that she could have just walked through the closed door. Almost all of the buttons were lit up except for the third floor. Quinn was eagerly pushing at the button, watching her finger disappear through it. The doors to the second floor were closing so she had to hurry.

"Please." She begged. He hands turned into fists and she punched at the unlit 3. She closed her eyes and bowed her head. "What am I doing?"

"Seriously? Ugh not only are these elevators slow they're also malfunctioning?" A woman spoke up in the elevator.

Quinn looked on in confusion and noticed the 3 had lit up. She frowned at this in question but didn't wait for the doors to open all the way before she burst out in search of room 318.

Quinn skidded past the nurses' station, noticing the arrow pointing her in the direction of her desired room. She clicked through the hallways as she ran, heels a constant reminder that she was either in a fucked up dream or she was really on her way to Rachel's wedding and wound up shits creek without a paddle.

The door was slightly closed, Quinn wasn't sure if she should knock, but after what she did on the elevator she could at least try. Raising her hand she was about to knock but a familiar voice stopped her. "It's okay sweetheart, you can come in."

Quinn walked into the room, feeling her shoulder faze through a half of the door. She looked to the bed and saw grace propped up and smiling. "Hello, dear." She smiled at her.

"Grace…can I call you something else?" Quinn said uncomfortably, not used to the informality.

"Now's not the time to worry so much about formalities." Grace supplied to her. "Please have a seat." She motioned to the chair next to her bed.

Quinn looked at it with an eyebrow raised.

Sighing Grace spoke up, "You need to rest a bit. Using all your spirit energy is going to drain you." Grace was still pointing at the chair.

Quinn walked carefully to it and sat down. "How can I sit in this?" She looked to Grace.

Grace offered a shrug. "All of you can do some strange things."

"All of us?" Quinn asked.

Grace smiled brighter. "I've seen quite a few spirits in my time." She clarified for Quinn. "The first ones were when I was a little girl, with the war going on it wasn't really a wonder that I saw them. Then again when my parents passed, just flashes not full on conversations. When I got diagnosed with cancer I saw a woman standing next to my doctor. She was smiling." Grace looked away, clearly remembering. "She was the first one I helped."

"You helped?" Quinn was a little lost.

"My doctors had lost his wife earlier in the year." Grace explained. "She finally approached me when I came in for one of my last checkups before they put me here. That was about three weeks ago."

"Why are you still here then? I mean wouldn't you be in hospice?" Quinn asked, not realizing how direct that may sound.

Grace let out a small laugh. "I didn't want to go, I told my doctor he could throw me in a hospital but I wouldn't do hospice. After what I did for him, he pulled some strings and put me here. I didn't want to be repaid. Everyone has something they need to say at the end, some don't get a chance." Grace finished.

"What did she want you to tell him?" Quinn leaned forward in interest.

Grace stared out the window, her short gray hair a reminder of her age. "I can't say." She looked back to Quinn. "Some things are better left to the ones who need to know." She smiled again at Quinn. "There have been more spirits. Most of them needed something simple done. Others I couldn't help." Grace looks down for a moment in sadness at this revelation. "As you can see I can't do much moving around." Chuckling to herself she focused on Quinn, giving her a chance to let all of this sink in.

"I'm not…I'm not dead, though." Quinn told her. "I was in an accident, I don't-" _Quinn sees her steering wheel and her phone flashing at her, pain is everywhere and blood is smudging her vision._

Shaking her head she looks to Grace. "I don't want to think about that right now. But I know I'm still alive."

Grace smiles sadly. "You may be Quinn. I'm not sure how I can help you sweetheart." Grace says in defeat. "I don't have much longer myself. Coming down to see you today was the most I've moved in weeks. That's probably why Kimie was looking at me so funny."

"How did you know to come and look for me?" Quinn decides to ask.

The old woman raises her hand to her chin in thought. "You know, I'm not quite sure. I'd been sleeping since the night before, I finally thought that this was the end. That I would be free of pain. I've had struggles in my life and I'm just waiting for that peace that comes at the end. Well, I heard a voice. I can't recall what it sounded like but I do remember the words. It was just a simple 'Wake up' and then my feet were carrying me to you." Grace looks to Quinn. "Hm."

"You said he was a demon." Quinn stood then and took to pacing, ignoring Grace who was looking at her in concern. "Why would a demon be after me?" Quinn stopped to look at Grace.

Shrugging her shoulders she responded, "I'm not sure dear. I know they come and they try to convince people that they can help them. Go back and change things. The first time I saw it was with an older man. He looked to be someone's dad. One of those things came and said they could bring him back, make him be with his kids again. You know, anything he wanted to hear. I thought I was seeing a miracle, turns out I was wrong. He took that little girl's hand and the next thing I heard were screams. Like he was in agony. She smiled and that black smoke came in. She looked to me with an evil, sick little smug smile and then they disappeared. It doesn't always happen. Some people have it I think and others don't." Grace looked to Quinn. "Something I've noticed, they never tell you their name. Ever. Keep that in mind." Quinn looked sideways at Quinn. "And with that… what's your name? We haven't been properly introduced.

Quinn rushed to speak. "Sorry! I'm Quinn. Quinn Fabray."

Gracie smiled. "It's nice to meet you. I was starting to get lonely. Not many of those spirits come around anymore, I can't do much for them. It's nice to have someone's ear to talk off."

Quinn shook her head. "You're not at all Grace." She looked around at the little snacks on the side table and books. There were flowers and some pictures too. "Grace, where's your family?"

"Well, they're usually always here. Three grandchildren and two children of my own. Kim is the one you saw earlier. Sweetest girl around, my baby. She has two children, Doug has one. I told them to leave me be for a while. Like I said, I thought it was my time. But I've been wrong before." Grace looked towards the door before looking back. "Just don't tell my kids that." She winked.

Quinn walked over to the window. She should go look at the surgery or see all of the people she loves, make sure they're okay. But…"Grace can I stay here for a while?" Quinn turned to her to and spoke. "I'll leave if you want me to."

"Of course." Grace smiled with her teeth this time. "I was going to finish one of my books, but you're more than welcome here."

Smiling, Quinn recaptured the seat she was previously in. "I don't mind at all." She said, closing her eyes, feeling exhaustion take over. "I just don't want to be alone…" She trailed off as sleep overtook her.

Grace set her book aside and looked to Quinn's sleeping form. "I'm right here." She whispered, watching over Quinn as she rested.

 **Review please. Until next time - R**


	5. Chapter 5

Quinn woke with a start. She didn't know how long she had been dozing off in Grace's room but it must've been a while because grace was laying in her bed with an oxygen mask on, the book from earlier neatly set aside on her table.

Quinn couldn't help noticing just how peaceful Grace looked. The older woman was clearly in a lot of pain earlier, and with the cancer at it's final stage, it was no wonder she needed help breathing. Quinn stood, stretching as she went, and tip toed over to the older woman's side.

Observing the soft wrinkles and gray hair from a long life Quinn smiled lightly. The woman had lived a long life, longer than most, and herself possibly, had the chance to live. Without thinking she reached forward and pulled the covers further up. After she released them she felt a wave of exhaustion hit her. Quinn had to remember to save her energy, she wouldn't make it very long at this rate but making Grace, the only person who could see her, comfortable was something she'd gladly spend her energy on.

The blonde decided to take this time to make some observations of the room. It felt warm, Quinn wasn't sure why a hospital room would feel this way but she suspected that it had to do with the kind of person that Grace was. The cards that sat on the windowsill were closed so she couldn't read much, just that they were cards of sympathy and wishing her the best. How could anyone wish her the best? She wasn't going to get better. Quinn thought that that was a very poor choice in a card. She looked at the flowers then, Gardenias, what good taste.

Quinn heard the door creak open so she turned around to see who was visiting. Kim, Grace's daughter, was walking in carrying what looked like a homemade meal. Her shift must have ended and judging by her change in clothes she must have gone home and cooked before returning to see her mother.

"Ma?" Kim whispered gently into the quiet.

She approached her mother who was sleeping soundly, the only sound was the oxygen constantly flowing. "Mom?" Kim gently nudged her mother.

Grace stirred slightly, Quinn moved to stand beside Kim and watch as Grace woke up.

The older woman's eyes slowly opened. For a moment she looked confused before a smile began to spread across her face. "Kimmy." She said into the mask. "Hi sweetheart."

Kim lowly let out the breath she was holding. "Hey mom. I brought you some food. You must be getting tired of eating this crap, huh?" Kim pulled the chair Quinn had been sleeping in earlier closer to Grace. She opened the lid to the food and started to unpack a plate from her bag.

"Mmmm." Grace inhaled, "Smells delicious."

Kim chuckled at this. "Right mom, you can't even smell it." She dished out the food and pulled out a thermos that must be holding a drink of some kind. "I brought you coffee." Kim whispered jokingly.

Grace brightened at this and laughed slightly. "I knew there was a reason that you were my favorite. Did you put something else in it?" Grace asked slyly.

Kim hummed slightly, her face turning red before she poured some into the cup that came with the thermos. "It may have some alcohol in it." Kim looked towards the door, standing and handing the cup to her mother and walking to close the door further. "You can't tell anyone, ma."

Grace sat up slowly, pulling the mask down once she situated herself. "My lips are sealed." She made the motion and blew slightly into the coffee before taking a small sip. She sighed in content. "You sure do know how to make an old woman happy." Grace said with a large smile on her face.

Quinn watched as Kim began to tear up, the tears began to stream down her face. "Oh Kimmy." Grace said. "Sweetheart, come here." Grace motioned to the bed. Kim looked at it with a slight frown but then decided to lay on it with her anyways.

Quinn watched as Grace pulled her daughter in close and hummed softly to her. Quinn felt as if she was intruding on a moment so she decided now would be the time to slip out.

She quickly decided to walk through the door, upon doing so she felt cold, and slightly drained. "Okay," she said, glancing back at the mostly shut door, "note to self, apparently walking through things also take energy."

Shaking her head, she began to walk towards the elevator, noting that she absolutely hated her heels. "That's it." She bent down and roughly unhinged her heels, throwing them against the wall. She stared at them in anger, another reminder of why she was here, and stormed off to the elevator.

Back in the ER she noticed that things were a little quieter than before. It couldn't hurt her to do some wandering, after all she was kind of stuck here so she couldn't help but think that it would be beneficial to get to know the place. Hospitals weren't exactly her thing. She'd been here before with Santana since the other girl's father worked here, but she always disliked the feeling. It always felt sad and cold.

Quinn waited until a nurse came buzzing through the door so she wouldn't waste energy on phasing through it. She quickly followed behind her and made her way towards the entrance of the ER. There were so many nurse stations, half of the ER was trauma and the other half was medical. The medical side seemed to always be busy, she noticed as she sat atop a nurse station and watched people rushing back and forth.

"Well I know where I'll be if I get bored." Quinn noted before she stood. A door opened and she noticed a sign that noted the waiting room for the ER. Quinn felt her heart jump, literally or not she was uncertain, she began to run towards the door that was closing. She slowed once she noticed the door close completely.

"Damn." Quinn was already feeling tired and she wasn't sure how much her body, if that's what it was, could take.

"Ugghhh" Quinn moaned, noticing no one was coming through and didn't seem to be coming her way any time soon. "Screw it." She muttered before walking through the door.

Once through she felt extremely drained and bent down to put her hands on her knees. "God, if I'm not dead then this is going to kill me." She breathed heavily for a few more moments before looking up at the sign.


End file.
